Finger food - Rule of thumb??!!

[rylan'smomma]

I am a first time mom and I am paranoid about giving my ds finger foods and lumpy foods He is nearly seven mos old. I have been giving him homemade baby food that is pureed: apple, pear, peaches, sweet potatoe, carrots, peas , squash. I am not sure about finger foods. I am scared that he is going to choke...Do you have any tips about what kind of foods to give and when to start?

[MamaMel]

i give my DD bits of what we are eating. Tonight we had baked sweet potato chips and I gave her bits that were mushy. I just make sure that is small enough that if she swallowed it whole she wouldn't choke. My rule of thumb is it has to be smaller than a rasin

[rylan'smomma]

thanks! anyone else?

[worldwarcaitlin]

Does your DS have a good pincer grisp yet? Because you shouldn't be starting finger foods til he does. If so, pretty much anything goes as long as he's already tried it. I make all of Viktor's finger foods about the size of a cheerio. He doesn't have any teeth so at first I was very paranoid about giving him things. However, as long as it is tender enough to gum down it's okay. I always test the foods myself to make sure they are soft enough.

If he's had sweet potatoes, I recommend baking up some sweet potato fries. My son LOVES them and it is something we all can eat.

[desertblossom79]

My youngest is 7 months old and she's been eatting finger foods for a few weeks now. Most of the things I give her dissolve in her mouth like biter biscuits and zwieback toast and some of the Gerber first finger foods on occaision. She's had a few Cheerios with no problems but I watch her really close on those since they don't dissolve as easily. Mashed food isn't alot different than pureed just a little more texture. I just mash up a little of what ever veggie we have with dinner and feed her from my plate. If it will make you feel better about feeding thicker foods, try adding a little cereal to the purees to make them thicker. As he can handle the thicker purees, keep making them thicker until they are the consistancy of mashed potatoes. If he can handle that, he can handle soft mushy finger food or foods that dissolve on the tongue.

Also, you might look into becoming first aid certified. Dd hasn't choked on any food that I can think of but she had gotten a hold of paper, chewed it and choked on a piece. Being first aid certified, it was easy for me to just sweep her mouth and she was fine. I also know how to do the Himelick (sp?) on infants if sweeping her mouth doesn't work. My point is that it may ease your mind a bit if you know what to do and feel confident that you can deal with a choking child.

HTH

Jeni

[AKM]

I asked this question a month or so ago and someone suggested Rice Puffs (not rice Krispies, Puffs are bigger). My nearly 11m/o son loves them. They've started finger foods at daycare with him too and today he had his first "big boy lunch"- noodles and butter, peas and applesauce. I guess he ate the applesauce with his fingers? I had to wash it out of his hair so I assume yes

Cheerios, little bits of pita bread, sweet potatoes cut into small chunks, etc. might work too. I've tried bananas cut into small bits and even rolled in rice cereal, but they're still too slippery for DS to handle very well.

I've been probably a little too worried about trying new foods because of all the scare info about allergies, but I'm thinking of easing off that since neither DH nor I have allergies and trying more table food, like spaghetti and tomato sauce.

Good luck to you. Hopefully your baby enjoys it as much as mine has!

[Timetodance]

Just don't confuse choking and gagging. There will be a lot of gagging as your child learns to eat. It is a natural part of the process, and one of the reasons for the great gag reflex. Choking is a little more serious. Just keep an eye on things and you will quickly see what foods they are ready to handle.

[Termie]

Originally Posted by desertblossom79 Being first aid certified, it was easy for me to just sweep her mouth and she was fine. I also know how to do the Himelick (sp?) on infants if sweeping her mouth doesn't work.

Just remember to make sure you only sweep if you can see the item! A finger sweep without seeing it can force it back into their throat.

[sesa70]

We jumped right in to finger foods. My dd almost skipped the pureed thing. We did do some rice cereal to try when she was like 5 months but she wanted no part of it so I gave up. Then a couple weeks later she started grabbing what I was eating out of my hands and off my plate. I personally was more comfortable with larger things she could bite or gum, like crusty bread or steamed green beans. Some of her favorites now that are more finger food -y are toast with a small bit of butter and cut into squares, cucumber slices (she loves these!) noodles, cheese, honestly we feed her just about everything. I have since she started eating and the only thing she has ever choked on was a leaf that got brought in on my older dd's wheelchair. Somehow it looked tasty?

[psbroudy]

finger foods has been my terror! .. my kid is nearly nine months old and i just started with chunks in the last two weeks or so. one thing that worked nicely was the frozen peas and carrots. however, my mistake was that i nuked it instead of boiled - boiling them makes them super soft. of course the gross part is changing the diape and finding WHOLE peas HAHAHA .. the other thing that has worked nicely for me is buying half peaches and half pears that are canned (i get mine at trader joe). my SIL bought me a french fry cutter (it looks like an apple corer but it has little squares) i run the peaches or pears through it and then cut them a bit smaller.. instant chunks and it doesnt take so long to cut it up! i have also used it to make small squares of french toast

another great finger food - black beans.. they mush up nicely. so do avocado chunks

my annoying SIL is constantly saying things like "well he has to learn to eat" .. uh yah i know that, but i dont want him to die in the process!